Visible index



w. G. TAEGER VISIBLE INDEX Filed. March 5, 1954 INVENTOR Patented Sept.25, 1934 UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE Application March l3, 1934, serialNo. 'nasca 4 Claims. (Cl. 129-15) rMy present invention rel-ates to avisible index and the method of making same, and aims to provide certainimprovements therein. .More particularly it relates to a visible indexadapted for application upon various forms and types of devices, forexample, vertical Yfiling devices, vertical folders, vertical filepockets, flat or'expanding folders, prong binders, all forms ofaccordion les with one or more pockets, box letter files, deskportfolios commonly` known as desk classifiers, work organizers, deskaids Yand desk companions, and on all form lof loose leaf books and cardindexes. In fact, it is applicable to any type of device provided with avisible index which is subject to fingering in use.

Among the objects of my invention thefollowing m-ay be enumerated: Toprovide a visible index adapted to receive .a removable index-bearingelement and hold the same in place against accidental removal in use; toprovide a transparent window for such index-bearing element which will.be free from sharp corners and which will protect and keep theindex-bearing element clean; to provide suchv transparent window withoutresorting to the application of heat in the manufacture thereof; to.provide a double faced visibleY index'whereby an index-bearing elementmay be rendered visible from either side of the device or wherein adouble faced index-bearing element may be used to advantage; to providea transparent index which can be incorporated into and made to harmonizewith Aany color scheme or character of ling device.

The foregoing and other objects of my invention notspecifically'enumerated, I accomplish by forming in a suitable elementof a filing de.- vice or the like, in spaced relation to one edgethereof, an opening VorwindoW which is flanked at one or both ends by asmall opening, and folding said element back upon itself to present saidwindow at the edge of the element. Preferably the window opening isfolded to provide a cut-out portion or recess in the edge resulting fromthe folding operation. Where the visible index is to have a transp-arentwindow or covering I cover the window opening with a piece of flexibletransparent material such as Celluloid, cellophane, kopak or the like,of proper size and thickness, and preferably use a material 50 which canbe adhesively attached to the element and fold said transparent materialtogether with the element, which latter is then glued or otherwisesecured against the body portion thereof to hold the transparentmaterial in place. The 55 j smaller openings at thev ends of the WindowOpening will; provide means for inserting an indexbearing memberinto andremoving it from between the folds-of the transparent material.

The inventionuwill .be better understood from the detailed descriptionwhich follows, when considered in conjunctionuwithgthe accompanyingdrawing, wherein `I have shown several applications of my invention, andwherein K JFigure 1 is a perspective view of a desk portfolio embodyingmy invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section taken substantially along the plane of theline 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig.;3 is an elevation of a-portion of a sheet of material showinganearly step in the method of makingthe visible index embodied'in the 70desk portfolio shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

-Fig. 4 is a somewhat enlarged section through one of the exible indexesshown in Fig. 2.,

Fig. 5 is a section taken substantially Aalong the plane of the line 5-5of Fig. 1. 75,

Fig. 6 is a sectionv taken substantially along the plane ofthe vline 6-6of Fig. 5.

Fig. rlis a perspective view of the transparent element used in myvisible index.

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of a further modification of the inventionapplied to a vertical folder.l

Fig. 9 is a section taken substantially along the plane ofthe line 9-9of Fig. 8.

' Referring first to Figs. 1 to 'l of the drawing, let A indicate a deskportfolio which consists of a top or cover member B, a base or bottom Cand a plurality of intermediate leaves E which are secured to anaccordion or expansible back D. The cover Bmay be provided With'anyfabric vor textile protective or ornamental material b, and the bottommay be provided on its underside with' a layer of felt or `o-therprotective material c. The cover B is shorter than the base C, and theintermediate leaves E are progressively longer from the top to thebottom leaves and overlap one another in stepped relation, as best shownin Figs. 1 and 2. y

Each of the leaves E at its projecting or free end is provided with avisible index F which is 10p preferably contained within the boundariesof the sheets E at the exposed edges thereof. The construction of thevisible index will be best understood from a consideration of its methodof manufacture, which is as follows:

One end of a sheet E, after being covered on one face with a protectiveand reinforcing strip of material e extending completely thereacross,which preferably is of a color and character to harmonize with thecovering material b, is first Ll() los blanked out with a main opening2e and supplemental openings 3e of substantially half the height of theopening 2e and disposed in spaced relation to the ends thereof. A stripof transparent material G such as celluloid, cellophane or k-opak or thelike of proper dimensions to cover the opening 2e is placed over saidopening and preferably secured by adhesive to the face of the sheet Eopposite to that having the material e at suitable places, the two lowercorners have been found sufficient, whereupon the cov-- ered end of thesheet is folded back upon itself substantially along the longitudinalcenter line -x of the main opening 2e and said folded back portionsecured in place against the main body portion of the sheet by adhesiveor other suitable means. tion in place it is important that the portionsof the sheet 4e lying between the openingsV 2e andV 3e, respectively,lare left unsecured so that the openings 3e will provide a means forinserting and removing a suitable index-bearing member I-I into and frombetween the folds or Walls of the transparent element G. 'Io facilitatethe folding operation of the transparent element G, said element may begiven an initial crease or fold or may be suitably scored to facilitatethe folding operation thereof. As many of these materials are somewhatbrittle if folded too sharply, it is preferable to give said element arounded edge in folding, as best shown in Fig. 2. The securing of thefolded back portion of the sheet upon itself may be satisfactorilyperformed upon conventional gluing machines used in the industry. It istherefore preferable to use transparent material which is not affectedby heat. The end of the sheet E, upon being folded back and secured inplace, may be said to provide a sheet with a recessed edge, whichrecessed portion is occupied by a transparent element having spacedwalls.

It will be apparent that the visible index thus provided is free fromsharp corners and protruding portions, which, in prior artconstructions, have been found to be unsatisfactory. It will also benoted that the openings 3e are disposed on the underside of the sheets Eand normally not visible to mar the finished appearance of the deskportfolio. The index-bearing member I-I may be suitably introducedbetween the walls of the transparent element G, as best shown in dottedlines in Fig. 5. It will also be apparent that said index-bearing memberI-I may have indicia on both sides thereof, which, in view of thetransparent walls of the visible index, would be rendered visible fromeither side of the sheet and would facilitate the filing of papers inthe portfolio.

In Figs. 8 and 9 I have shown an invention simi- -two embodiments of myinvention it will be ap- In securing the folded back por-` lar to thatembodied in Figs. 1 to 7 applied toa vertical pocket folder having afront wall L and a rear wall M of double thickness m and 2m. In thisembodiment of the invention the visible index is formed on a tab N whichis integral with the sheet m of the rear Wall, in a manner analogous tothat of the visible index on the sheets E, the folded back portion ofthe tab being secured to both the inner faces of the sheets m and 2mwhich constitute the folder back M. It will, of

1 course, be understood that the top of the wall i thickness 2mterminates at a line 3m corresponding to the lower edge of the tab N.

From the foregoing detailed description of the preciated that I haveprovided a visible index lhaving all the properties and advantages asset forth in the opening statement of this specification, and I do notwish the invention construed as limited to those embodiments, since itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modificationsmay be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim is:

l. A device of the character described, comprising a sheet of ymaterial,one edge of which is doubled back upon itself along a line of fold andformed with a cut-out recess in the edge provided by the line of fold,and a transparent element having spaced Walls providing a pocket for anindex-bearing member disposed in said cut-out recess and held betweenthe doubled back portions of the sheet of material.

2. A device of the character described, compris-A ing a sheet ofmaterial, one edge of which is doubled back upon itself along the lineof fold and provided with `a cut-out recess in the edge provided by theline of fold, and a folded transparent element having spaced wallsproviding a pocket for an index-bearing member disposed in said cut-outrecess having a line of fold in alignment with the line of fold in thesheet of material and held between Ythe doubled back portions of thesheet of material adjacent said cut-out recess therein.

3. A device according to claim 2, wherein the doubled back sheet ofmaterial has an opening therein in longitudinal spaced relation to thecutout recess to permit the insertion of an indexbearing member into thepocket provided by the transparent element.

4. A device according to claim 2, wherein one wall of the doubled backsheet of material has an opening therein in longitudinal spaced relationto the cut-out recess to permit the insertion 134]. of an index-bearingmember into the pocket provided by the transparent element.

WILLIAM G. TAEGER.

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